England brush Argentina aside in first Test

An understrength Argentina side were brushed aside by England in Salta last Saturday, despite Stuart Lancaster's squad also missing several big names through Lions duty.

David Strettle, Billy Twelvetrees and Ben Morgan all ran in tries for the visitors in a dominant first-half display, and although momentum slowed after the half-time interval, Billy Vunipola was still on hand to complete a comprehensive victory.

Martin Bustos Moyano scored the home side's only points with a first-half penalty, but several more missed attempts ensured he was still out kicked by Freddie Burns.

Without several star names away with the British and Irish Lions in Australia, England were able to hand debuts to flanker Matt Kvesic and winger Christian Wade.

However, it was the Argentine's, missing the likes of Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe and Juan Imhoff, who looked short on inspiration - a shadow of the side who drew with South Africa in the Autumn.

Burns struck early with two long-range penalties in ideal conditions, and from there England did not look back, putting their opponents under tremendous pressure at the scrum and forcing mistakes at regular intervals.

Moyano fluffed a chance to halve the deficit from the tee, before smart work from England second row Dave Attwood, stealing the ball at the line-out, led to a try at the other end.

Wade, making his England debut after a stellar season in which he scored 18 tries in 26 matches for Wasps, came in off his wing to burst between two defenders and set up the position from which Jonathan Joseph was able to put in Strettle over in the corner.

Argentina, short of their usual strength at set piece's and reliable goal kicker, struggled to get back into the game, and were soon further behind as Twelvetrees combined well with Wade to score a sublime second try, and Morgan muscled over for a third.

Two more presentable kicking opportunities came and went for Moyano and the visitors came within a Strettle fumble of taking an even greater half-time lead.

Proceedings were fought more evenly in the second 40 minutes, but despite confining their opponents to their own 22 for much of the half, the Argentines could not force their way past a stubborn and well-organised England defence.

And when Courtney Lawes, who had been yellow carded for not releasing a tackled man, returned to the field, England were able to apply some late pressure of their own.

Ben Foden's half-break almost took him over, but it was fellow replacement Vunipola who smuggled the ball accross the line to cap an impressive debut off the bench and bring the match to a close.

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DISCLAIMER

This article has been written by a member of the GiveMeSport Writing Academy and does not represent the views of
GiveMeSport.com or SportsNewMedia. The views and opinions expressed are solely that of the author credited at the top of this article.
GiveMeSport.com and SportsNewMedia do not take any responsibility for the content of its contributors.

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